San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1887-10-25
BITTER ATONEMENT.
LEGRAPHER'S REMORSE BE-
USE OF CARELESSNESS.

Forgot an Order-A Terrible Railroad
on the Mountain Side.
Away up on the slope of the Allegheny
mountains, four or five miles from Union
town and only few steps off the line of the
old Cumberland pike, a little plain board
cabin stands. 1t isn't much bigger than a
good sized dog kennel and it is set so far back
among the rocks and trees that it cannot be
seen more than 100 yards away. But there
is cleanly, homelike air about the place
that speaks as positively as words of the re-
finement Of the owner The owner himself
is somewhat Of mystery to the great major
ity Of the simple minded mountai, folks who
live in that vicinity, but to the select few
who enjoy his confidence he is friend whose
friendship is as solid as the rocks on which
his little home is built. A reporter ram
bling over the mountains last week
stumbled all Unexpectedly upon the
secluded dwelling. The occupant was sitting
in home made hammock Just outside the
door adjusting fish line to pretty jointed
rod. A daily paper lay on the ground at his
feet. He was young man, not more than
80 years of age, but his hair and mustache
preston of sadness on his face which seemed
to be habitual. His clothing was old and worn,
but it was well kept and neat for all that
and it was worn with a grace that is not born
in the mountain districts He welcomed his
visitor as heartily as though he had known
him for years, and his invitation to take
seat and rest almost amounted to a command.
During the course Of the two hours CONVEX
tybi oh In
o. his life and the combination Of circum-
stances which led him to leave the habita-
tons of men and go away into the mountain
by himself.
81 was raised and educated in Pittsburg,"
he said. II learned biography in the West
ern Union office, and when not twenty years
OF age was put in charge of an office on
railroad out in Ohio. 1t doesn't make any
difference what office 1t was or what road it
vas on, it was an office and rather impor.
tant one at that. | hadn't been in my new
position more than six weeks when fell des-
perately in love with girl who lived only a
block from my office. The attachment was
mutual, and when six weeks had heightened
into six months we were engaged. One
night-it was in February, 1S77-I had been
to see my sweetheart and about midnight was
sitting in my Office thinking of the coming
wedding and feeling as happy as any young
man with bright prospects ahead of him
could feel, when word came over the wires
that special freight was coming over the
main track westward. 1t was still thirty
miles away, and after recording the fact that
1t was coming my thoughts required to the
little girl down the street
Ten minutes later the conductor of the
east bound express came in for orders. All
right, Bill said, as l glanced up and saw
him, and minute later he was on his train,
speeding away at a twenty -five mile an hour
gait. The rear lights were scarcely out of
sight when happened to look at my desk.
There was nothing there but my instrument
and bit of paper, but that bit of paper was
enough. There, in plain letters on it, were
the words | had written not more than
quarter of an hour before, Extra freight:
tell Bill to sidetrack.' The express has to
sidetrack, you know, because the switches
were not long enough for freights. NV hair
fairly stood on end. There was that freight
coming on with full steam, with the express
going to meet it at the rate of twenty-five
miles an hour fell back in my chair, and
the cold perspiratiOn broke out all over me.
Then l grasped the key to my instrument and
called in succession all the offices intervening
between the two trains They were all day
offices, and the operators had gone home
hours before The clicking Of the instrument
sounded to my excited Imagination as loud
as the discharge of cannons. For five min
utes called In the desperate hope that some
one would hear me in time to stop the ex-
press. But it was no use. Every office was
closed.
Il dropped the key and ran down the stairs
and out onto the track. think had wild
hope that / could overtaIe the express, but as
soon as go. into the open air realized the
folly of any such attempt, and with the feel
ing OF the most utter despair | returned to
the office and dropped into the chair But |
couldn't sit still. The instrument on the desk
seemed to mock me and the air in the office
seemed sitting walked out on the track
again and walked back and forth along the
cross ties, waiting for the result knew 1t
must come, and l instinctively stayed within
hearing distance Of the instrument
ut seemed an age, but in reality 1t wasn't
more than half an hour, till the sounder
clicked and l ran up stairs, hoping beyond
hope that some lucky circumstance had
averted disaster. was so nervous that |
could scarcely hold the key to the answer.
Then laid back and waited as the instru
ment clicked what seemed to me to be my
death sentence Express and freight collided.
Nineteen killed; many injured
"Two weeks later regained my senses.
had been lowering around between life and
death during the interval and was still so
weak that could scarcely move a finger.
But recovered rapidly and then they told
me the awful details. Both engineers and
the conductor Of the passenger train as well
as sixteen passengers had been killed. The
list Of killed ran up to nearly fifty. The
trains had met on curve, and the passenger
had been thrown over an embankment thirty
feet high. The coronc~'s jury had heard all
the details and had exonerated me, although
tell you now would rather at that time
they had hanged me. All through my sick
ness my sweetheart watched over me and
nursed me, and when l recovered she was
kindness and consideration itself. But was
in no mood for love making
Gas soon as I was able to leave the hospital